24 Dr. Bowring on the Boracic Acid Lagoons of Tuscany. 



nor is it less remarkable, that it was left for a man, whose 

 name and occupation are wholly disassociated from science, to 

 convert these fugitive vapours into substantial wealth. 



Though to the present proprietor (the Chevalier Larderel*) 

 the merit attaches of having given to the boracic lagoons the 

 immense importance they now possess, a succession of ad- 

 venturers had made many experiments, and had produced a 

 considerable quantity of boracic acid, but at a cost (from the 

 expenditure of combustible) which left little })rofitf . The small 

 value that was attached to them may be seen in the fact, that 

 the largest and most productive district of the lagoons, that 

 of Monte Cerboli, was offered in perpetuity, so lately as 1818, 

 at an annual ground-rent of £T. 200/. or 61. \3s. 'Id. per an- 

 num, though it now produces several thousand pounds ster- 

 ling. The immense increase in their value arose from the 

 simplest of improvements, the abandonment of the use of 

 charcoal, and the application of the heat of the lagoons or 

 soffioni to the evaporation of their own waters. Improve- 

 ments, however, and very important ones, particularly by 

 subjecting the waters to a succession of impregnations, had 

 been gradually introduced by a Signor Ciaschi, and the im- 

 portation of boracic acid from Tuscany into France, before 

 1817, had been between 7000 and 8000 pounds, of a quality 

 gradually increasing in purity : but Ciaschi perished miserably, 

 in consequence of falling into one of the lagoons which he 

 himself had excavated, leaving his family in a state of extreme 

 poverty. His death (which happened in 1816) naturally 

 threw a damp upon adventure. The experiments were re- 

 sumed in the following year, and in the midst of violent 

 claims and controversies, M. Larderel has become the mono- 

 polist of the boracic productions of Tuscany. 



With the increased production of boracic acid has arisen 

 an increased demand, growing out of the more extensive ap- 

 plication of it to manufacturing purposes. In about four 

 years the quantity has been quadrupled by superior modes of 

 extraction, and by greater care employed in the collection of 

 the boracic vapour. In 1833 about 650,000 Tuscan pounds 

 were obtained, in 1836 two millions and a half. 



* While these sheets have been passing through the press the Grand 

 Duke of Tuscany has conferred on M, Larderel the title of Count de Po- 

 merance. 



1- Hoefer first ar.nounced the presence of boracic acid in the Marcm- 

 man districts, and Mascagni in his Commentaries suggests the manufac- 

 ture of borax as an object worthy of attention. Professor Gnzzcri in 

 1807, made experiments, which however seemed to show that the quan- 

 tity of boracic acid contained in the waters w as too small to jnomise much 

 success. 



